Artist to patron:
Do not touch
The federal Visual Artists Rights Act protects artwork from destruction
at the hands of its owners. But does that include the setting
for that art? That’s the question at issue in a dispute
between artist David Phillips and Fidelity Investments. Phillips
designed and built a sculpture garden for a Fidelity office building
in coastal Massachusetts. Fidelity later proposed to move a sculpture
and alter a pathway; Phillips objected, claiming that the sculpture
and the setting were all part of his design. U.Va. law professor
Thomas Nachbar predicts that a Phillips victory would cause a
chilling effect on public art. “If you contract with someone
to put a sculpture in your garden, that would effectively give
control of your garden to the artist.”
— Newsweek, Nov. 3

A tale of two Salems
Salem, Mass., makes a big deal of its association with the famous
witch trials of 1692 — especially around Halloween, when
the hoopla spurs tourism. But many are unaware that the central
events really took place about five miles down the road. “It
was the town now known as Danvers, once known as Salem Village,
that was ground zero for the events of 1692,” says U.Va.
religious studies professor Benjamin Ray, who has produced a Salem
Witch Trials Web site. While Salem Town embraces the legacy, Danvers
apparently takes a more dignified, historical-preservation approach.
Ray’s site, which features historical records of the trials,
is accepted as part of the effort, he says. “By and large,
we’ve gotten incredible cooperation. Most people do know
that a fire or flood could happen in their archive, and we need
to back up these irreplaceable documents.”
— Wired News, Nov. 4

Different strokes for different folks
Anyone who has ever set foot in a classroom when a teacher is
addressing the whole class can tell that all of the students inside
are rarely on the same page. While some may be learning, a few
others may be hopelessly lost, while still others are bored. U.Va.
education professor Carol Ann Tomlinson is credited with popularizing
an approach to teaching called “differentiated instruction,”
a method of teaching students of different abilities in a single
classroom. It is all the rage in education circles these days,
but critics argue that such an approach asks too much of teachers.
Tomlinson is sympathetic, but maintains that differentiation is
the only reasonable approach. “A student who fits our templates
may be well served by school,” she said. “These days,
too many students don’t fit those templates.”
— New York Times, Nov. 9

Iraq gets unlikely aid
Earlier this year, a group of 17 former American POWs who were
tortured after being captured in the 1991 Gulf War won a nearly
$1 billion judgment against the former Iraqi government, to be
deducted from assets frozen in this country. Imagine their shock
when the U.S. government successfully challenged the verdict,
arguing that the assets were needed to help rebuild Iraq. “This
was a major human rights decision,” said the plaintiffs’
attorney, John Norton Moore, director of U.Va.’s Center
for National Security Law. “It never occurred to me in my
wildest dreams that I would then see our government coming in
on the side of Saddam Hussein and his regime to absolve them of
responsibility for the brutal torture of Americans.” Appeals
are pending.
— New York Times, Nov. 10